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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Paul state that his secret gives him?

2. What does Paul do with his secret?

3. What does Paul think of the effort it takes to answer Miss Buell's question?

4. What does Paul think the snow is in Part 2?

5. What class is Paul in as the story begins?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Paul surprisingly say at the end of his examination, and why does it cause everyone to become silent?

2. How does Deirdre react to Paul's intelligence, and what does that symbolize?

3. What is Miss Buell teaching, and why is that significant?

4. What does the snow represent for Paul on his walk home?

5. What does Paul's mother tell him at the end of Part 1, and how is his response significant?

6. How does Part 3 end, and what is the new sound that Paul hears?

7. How does Paul's street appear, according to his description in Part 2?

8. How does Paul view his mother's concern at his disturbing behavior toward the end of Part 3?

9. What is the first thing that the doctor does, and how does Paul respond to it?

10. What does Paul begin to wonder about as he stands in front of his house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The doctor's examination is a crucial turning point in the story, and for Paul.

1) Describe the doctor's personality and characteristics. How do they add to his ability to evaluate Paul accurately?

2) Describe Paul's interpretation of the doctor and his actions. How does he view himself in comparison to the doctor? Why?

3) What is the major discovery that the doctor makes about Paul? How does he make it? Why does the author choose this character to make it, and how is it important to the story?

Essay Topic 2

Paul's mother is an important element to the story.

1) Describe her role in the story as it develops. Which of her characteristics stood out to you the most? Why?

2) Explain the similarities and differences between Paul's mother and father and the way they are both depicted in the story. Which one has a stronger place in Paul's life? Why?

Essay Topic 3

Explain what Paul's thought process is pertaining to his secret and hiding it from everyone.

1) Why does it become more valuable to him if no one is aware of it? How does he think it elevates him to a superior place? Which events in the story illustrate that the most?

2) What does Paul think would happen if his parents learned about the snow? How does he think they would react, and why is that an integral part in his decision to keep it from them?

3) What is the sacrifice that Paul is willing to make with regard to his parents? How is his rationalization one of the deepest signs of his detachment? What is so disturbing about it, and why is he unable to understand the severity of what he is thinking?

(see the answer keys)

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